Exhibition News June 2017 - Page 13

NEWS
EXCLUSIVE:
Olympia’s new era
In April it was announced that Olympia London had been sold in a colossal
£296m deal, EN sits down with the venue’s MD Nigel Nathan to learn more
13
A
joint venture of institutional investors,
led and advised by Deutsche Finance
International (DFI), a global
investment fi rm and part of the Deutsche
Finance Group, and Yoo Capital (YC),
announced the acquisition of Olympia
London in April.
The historic 130-year old exhibition
and events business, which is situated on a
14-acre site in West London and welcomes
around 1.6m annually, was sold for £296m.
In an exclusive interview, EN catches up
with Olympia London managing director
Nigel Nathan to learn more about the
historic deal.
Why was the venue sold, and why
now?
Capco purchased the Earls Court &
Olympia Group with the primary focus to
redevelop Earls Court. They invested more
than £30m into the venue over the past 10
years—facilitating the successful transfer of
85 per cent of Earl’s Court’s business.
With this period of transition completed,
the time was right for Capco to shift their
focus back to their core business, so it came
as no great surprise that they looked to sell.
They conducted a sales process that was
both careful and considered in order to
secure a new long-term partner for the venue;
ensuring Olympia London’s legacy as one of
the world’s most iconic event venues lives on.
What plans
do the new
owners have for the venue?
It’s still very early days, in fact the 30-day
fi nalisation process only completed in early
May, however we are really looking forward
to what’s to come. Our new owners saw an
opportunity to invest in a piece of London’s
history, and have taken the time to fully
understand both the business and the event
industry.
They, like us, value collaboration, and
together we’ll be focusing on enhancing and
investing in the visitor experience—especially
where placemaking, retail, and food and
beverage is concerned. In line with this a
hotel is also on the cards but, of course, we
will only ever make plans that are right for
our core business as an event venue.
Will anything be changing for
organisers, suppliers or visitors?
Security and stability. Like I said, we
always knew the day would come for Capco
to sell us, however our new investors were
searching for an established and steady
iconic operational business—and they are
most defi nitely in it for the long term.
What will the new owners bring to
the table?
Most importantly, they share our
aspiration to become a world-class exhibition
and event venue. Now in our second year of
a research programme with expert agency,
Kantar TNS, we know better than ever
before what our clients, exhibito rs and
visitors want.
Armed with this insight, we will be
working on a long-term plan that will
concentrate efforts on investments
that complement the existing business;
capitalising on our investor’s expert
knowledge in developing retail and food &
beverage to enhance both visitor experience
and the public realm.
We are thrilled to be working alongside a
creative, innovative, and design-led group
of professionals as we move into the next
chapter of Olympia London’s history.
What involvement will the new
owners have in the day-to-day
running of the venue?
From the very beginning of
this journey they have expressed
their respect and admiration for the Olympia
London team, and have given full support to
our management.
This is a unifi ed, collaborative partnership
with a view to co-create a shared long-term
vision for the business, and we know they
are looking forward to the future as much as
we are. EN
exhibitionnews.co.uk | June 2017